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THE 



GREAT TREE 



BOSTON COMMON. 



oV'^ o\^*^*''' 



J. C. WARREN, M.D., \^'\%'\'^^^- 



PRESIDENT OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTOKY. 






BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON & SON, 
22, School Street. 
-1855. 



THE 



GREAT TREE ON THE COMMON. 



At a meeting of the Boston Society of Natural 
History some time since, the age of the large elm on 
Boston Common became accidentally a subject of dis- 
cussion. On this discussion, it appeared there was 
some difference of opinion, which led the writer of 
these remarks to make inquiry into the facts, and 
endeavor to ascertain the age of the tree. This in- 
quiry seems to be of no great importance at first 
view; but, independently of serving for the gratifica- 
tion of a proper curiosity, it may assist us in estab- 
lishing the period of the duration of this valuable 
ornament to our country. 

We propose, then, to notice this tree, not because 
it is a larger tree than any other in the country, nor 
because it is older or taller. The Aspinwall elm has 



a greater diameter; there have been a number of 
trees, cut down from time to time, which have been 
thought to have a greater age ; and the elm on 
Pittsfield Common, as we are informed by Professor 
Holmes, is a hundred and fourteen feet before the 
first branch is given off: of course, it is taller. This 
tree is an object of interest, from the fact of its being 
placed in the centre of Boston Common, and thence 
having attracted the attention of every native Bos- 
tonian. It is also interesting for other reasons. It 
has not only escaped the blasts which have occa- 
sionally threatened to annihilate it, but the more 
alarming threats of destruction from a British army 
encamped around it suffering under the severity of a 
winter's exposure. Thanks are due from the present 
and succeeding generations to General Gage, the 
commander of that army, for having preserved this 
and other valuable trees in Boston from being em- 
ployed in protecting his troops against the severity of 
the climate. 

It was the frequent scene, and in some measure 
the instrument, of inflicting vengeance on those 
whom popular indignation, whether justly or not, 
thought proper to stigmatize and terrify by hanging 
or burning in effigy. The writer was witness, and 



in some degree an adverse actor, in a scene of this 
kind during the political riots of 1806. At a later 
period, for many months, it had to withstand the 
dangers from the little army encamped around it, 
destined to protect the town in the war of 1812. 
Many tumultuous scenes have endangered its exist- 
ence on the annual recurrence of Election and Inde- 
pendence days, when there was no restraint in the 
public use of stimulants, which on those occasions 
so often drove men to madness, bloodshed, and all 
kinds of excesses. These circumstances will perhaps 
be thought sufficient to justify the attention we have 
bestowed on it. 

A drawing has been introduced to give an idea of 
its present appearance to a succeeding generation. 
The map was inserted to show, that in 1722 this tree 
was represented as the largest tree in Boston : it is a 
diminished copy of the earliest plan of Boston, viz., 
that of Capt. John Bonner, published in 1722. This 
gentleman had previously sketched some portions of 
the wharves in the proximity of Long Wharf. The 
sketches, though valuable, included no part of Boston 
but the wharves already mentioned; and the plan of 
1722 is undoubtedly the earliest complete one. The 
only copy of it which existed for many years within 



6 

my knowledge was in the possession of Joseph Peirce, 
Esq., of which I obtained a fac-simile to be drawn 
by a lady of Boston nearly forty years ago. In 
1835, Mr. George H. Smith reprinted Bonner's plan, 
which corresponds with mine, and proves the exact- 
ness of the drawing. The diminished map is an 
exact copy of Capt. Bonner's ; some trees, too small 
for representation in a diminished view, only being 
omitted. The Great Tree, and two trees at the head 
of Park Street, are well represented in their propor- 
tion to co-existing trees and to each other. 



This tree is an American Elm, belonging to a 
species admired and cultivated abroad for its grace- 
fully pendent branches. It is known by the most 
ancient surviving inhabitants of Boston as THE 
GREAT TREE. Citizens, who were of advanced 
age in the youth of those who are now the oldest 
inhabitants, knew it equally as THE GREAT 
TREE. 

The writer of this, having always lived in the vici- 
nity of the Common, where it is situated, and for 
half a century within sight of it, has a distinct recol- 
lection of its appearance for about seventy years. 



When he first knew it, it bore strong marks of de- 
crepitude and approaching dissolution. There was 
a large orifice in the bark of its trunk, through 
which a boy, eight or nine years old, could creep into 
its cavity; and in a picture wrought in 1755 by Miss 
Hannah Otis, aunt of the late distinguished orator 
and statesman, Harrison G. Otis, the same orifice is 
also represented, — thus adding thirty years to its 
known period of decrepitude. 

The interior of the trunk was rotten, and much of 
it had disappeared. The aperture was from two to 
three feet in length, and about a foot in breadth. For 
many years, it was neglected ; but when, in process of 
time, the spirit of improvement extended to its part 
of the Common, the edges of the aperture were pro- 
tected by a mixture of clay and other substances, and 
the exterior covered by canvas fastened around it. In 
consequence of these attentions, the parts have been 
regenerated; and the opening, so far as can be as- 
certained, filled and obliterated.* We presume the 

* The same process is now in successful operation in two American ehns 
remaining in Park Street. The bark on the side towards the street was torn 
off by the passage of carriages. To accomplish their recovery, the trees were 
first guarded by forming a sideway with raised stones ; and the wouna, having 
been seasonably protected by a covering, has gradually healed, and is now 
reduced to a tliird part of its original dimensions. The trees, in the mean 
time, have increased a quarter part in size. 



8 

trunk to be weakened ; and, if the tree possessed all 
its original branches, there would be danger of its 
being overturned by the wind. To what extent the 
interior has been repaired, it is impossible to deter- 
mine ; but that a portion of the cavity may have been 
obliterated by the formation of new woody fibre, is 
demonstrable by a specimen which happens to present 
itself at the moment of writing this. A violent wind- 
storm, which occurred on Sunday, June 10, 1855, 
tore off a hollow branch of a tree in the Hospital 
grounds ; by which it appeared that the edges of the 
aperture were coated with bark, and this bark was 
supported by new woody fibre which had lately been 
generated by the leaves, and was thus gradually clos- 
ing up the cavity. 

Standing alone (as it has done), and unprotected 
by trees or houses, it has frequently been attacked by 
storms, and large branches torn off. In the month of 
June, 1831, a violent storm partially separated four 
large limbs, and so far detached them that they 
rested on the ground. Mr. James A. Sutton, now 
Master Block Maker at the Navy Yard, Charlestown 
(then apprentice to Mr. Daniel Adams, Pump and 
Block Maker), informs me that he was sent with a 
party of apprentices and citizens to endeavor to rein- 



9 



state the prostrate limbs in their natural situation. 

By judicious efforts, they succeeded in raising and 

bolting them together. The bolts are still visible, 

and afford the only indications of these limbs having 

been separated, as they appear now at the end of 

twenty-three years to be completely united. 

» 
The branches, however, are greatly diminished in 

number, especially on the south-east side, which has 
suffered most from storms ; and their beautifully pen- 
dent character is diminished, so that they no longer 
sweep the surface of the ground. But, although 
worn by the storms of ages, it is still a magnificent 
object. No doubt its peculiar situation has contri- 
buted to its growth, preservation, and renovation ; for 
it stands in a rich hollow, near a permanent pond of 
water situated a little higher than its roots. In 1844, 
it was measured by the distinguished botanists, 
George B. Emerson, Esq., and Professor Asa Gray 
(vide " A Report on the Trees and Shrubs growing 
naturally in Mass.") ; at which time its measurement 
was as follows: "At the ground, 23 ft. Gin. ; at 
three feet, 17 ft. 11 in. ; and at five feet, 16 ft. 1 in." 
Mr. Chesbrough, City Engineer, having recently mea- 
sured this tree at our request, gives the dimensions 
as it now stands, viz. : " Height, 72J ft. ; height of 

2 



10 



first branch from the ground, 16 J ft. ; girth, one foot 
above the ground, 22J ft. ; girth, four feet above the 
ground, 17 ft.; average diameter of greatest extent 
of branches, 101 ft." 

The age and origin of this tree are matters of 
much interest to Bostonians. In a map in my pos- 
session, published during the administration of Go- 
vernor Burnett, beautifully engraved and having the 
date of 1729, the Great Tree stands, as now, insula- 
ted from other trees : near it is the Pond, the ancient 
springs of which are now aided by a noble fountain 
of Cochituate water. At a short distance westward 
is represented the Powder Magazine, placed on a 
small well-known eminence, which, during the siege 
of Boston, was the seat of a British fortification. In 
another plan of Boston still older, 1722, a copy of 
which accompanies this work, it is again found in the 
same situation, an insulated tree, comparatively of 
great size. From its conspicuous appearance on the 
plans, we infer that it might have been more than a 
hundred years old at that time ; and, of course, that 
it took its origin previous to the establishment of 
Governor Winthrop in Boston in 1630, or of Mr. 
William Blackstone before that period. 

Some persons have thought, and it has been stated 



11 

in the "Boston Commercial Gazette" of April 25, 
1825, but on what authority is not mentioned, that 
the tree was planted in 1670 by Capt. Henchman, an 
officer who had distinguished himself in the Indian 
wars. Capt. H. was a member of the Ancient and 
Honorable Artillery Company, an ancestor of Gover- 
nor Hancock ; and the statement says, that he planted 
this tree to shelter the Company during their parades 
on the Common. Many years ago, a venerable man 
and particular friend of mine, whom I have always 
supposed to be the author of the published account, 
made the same statement in the presence of a num- 
ber of gentlemen. I took occasion to infoiTti him, 
that this was probably a mistake ; and, being shown 
the old plans of Boston, he appeared to be convinced 
of his error, and never repeated the story within my 
knowledge, though I conversed with him on the sub- 
ject afterwards. I presume that he had no authority, 
excepting a report emanating from a lady who was a 
near relation of a descendant of Captain Henchman. 
There appears to be no sufficient foundation for this 
belief: if there is any good authority for the report, 
either traditionary or recorded, I am thus far unable, 
after diligent inquiry, to satisfy myself or any one 
else of its authenticity. It would seem also highly 



12 

improbable that Captain Henchman or our earlier 
ancestors should have planted a tree for shelter in 
a situation so remote as that of this tree formerly 
was. 

In the two plans of Boston, 1722 and 1729, it is 
always represented as a great tree ; ^. e., greater than 
any other tree co-existing on these plans. There 
were within the memory of living persons two or 
three other trees of extraordinary magnitude. Two 
of these stood at the head of Park Street (vide 
Map), in what is now the Carriage-way: they, how- 
ever, were obviously not of so great size. These 
two tr?es are not to be confounded with the two now 
standing in Park Street already mentioned, and which 
are also spoken of hereafter. If, then, this tree was a 
great tree in 1729 and 1722, it could not have been 
planted in 1670; for this would allow only fifty-two 
years for its growth. Its size and other characters 
would have required more than double that time at 
the earliest period of its representation. 

The two plans above mentioned afford an opportu- 
nity of comparing the growth of well-known existing 
trees with the other, though they are not perhaps 
of exactly the same species. The trees in the Little 
Mall, so called, were planted by Colonel Adino Pad- 



13 

dock in 1770.* They are, of course, more than eighty 
years old; and these trees are not so large as the 
earliest recollections of the Great Tree by persons 
now living. The trees in the Great" Mall were 
planted, as appears from the plans, between the years 
1722 and 1729. Those of them which remain are 
about one hundred and thirty years old, but have not 
the size of the Great Tree at the period of its notice, 
on the earliest plan. 

It may be objected, that the growth of the Ameri- 
can elm is very rapid ; and that the tree, if planted in 
1670, as is believed by some, if it had attained five or 
six years before being transplanted, might, in a period 
of fifty-two years more, reach a size which would 
entitle it to a respectable representation on a map 
of Boston. In order to determine the probability of 
such a growth, I have examined elms on my own 
place in Brookline, whose ages were from ten to sixty 
years. The largest and oldest individual of these, 
planted in the year 1798, is six feet in circumference 

* Two of the walks in Boston were formerly designated by the names, 
" Great Mail " and " Little Mall." The "Great Mall" borders the eastern 
edge of the Common; and the "Little Mall," the eastern edge of the 
Granary Burying-ground. The last named was planted with English 
elms by Col. Paddock ; the other, about fifty years previously, with a mixture 
of elms and buttonwoods {platanus occidentalis). Mr. Paddock was a loyal- 
ist, left Boston in the year 1776, and settled in Nova Scotia, Avhere his 
descendants live and flourish. 



14 

at four feet from the surface of the ground : a dozen 
others, of the same age, have not more than two-thirds 
of these dimensions. An account of an elm situated 
in Ware, in this State, has been published in the news- 
papers, which is said to be about fifty years old, and 
has obtained the circumference of about twelve feet at 
six feet from the ground'; the boughs covering an area 
whose circumference is about one hundred and fifty 
feet. The statement, however, is not made with any 
authority, and the facts are mentioned rather too 
loosely to form a ground of any important deduction. 
Having lived, as before intimated, on the edge of 
the Common for nearly fifty years, my life has been 
long enough to notice the growth of some of its 
American elms. President Quincy in 1824 planted 
two rows of elms in Park-street Mall. These trees, 
thirty years of age, average in circumference less 
than four feet, in diameter a foot and a third. In 
Park Street, a line of elms was planted some years 
before I came to live there. This plantation, as far 
I can ascertain, was made in consequence of a dona- 
tion to the town of a sum intended to improve the 
Common and its vicinity by Gov. Hancock, Gov. 
Bowdoin, Thomas Russell, Esq., and others, proba- 
bly (as the Hancock family think) about the year 



15 

1786. The two trees remaining of this line measure, 
one of them, 7 ft. 3 in. ; the other, 6 ft. 4| in., in 
circumference ; and, though more than sixty years old, 
they have thus but little over two feet in diameter, 
and cannot be considered as great trees. The distin- 
guished gentleman named above, President Quincy, 
has on his ancestral seat at Quincy two walks of 
these trees planted within his knowledge. One of 
these was set out in the year 1790, being of the 
girth usually attained by the upland elms when at 
the height of ten or twelve feet; in number they 
were about two hundred. Of these elms, at four feet 
from the ground, five of the largest are now, after a 
period of nearly sixty-five years, of the average girth 
of 5 ft. 8 in. Five of the smallest average in girth 
4 ft. 2 in. In the second walk set out in 1812, at the 
same distance from the ground, four of the largest are 
in girth 3 ft. 10 in. ; four of the smallest, 3 ft. 2 in. ; 
the period being forty-three years. 

We may conclude then, I think, that the growth 
between 1670 and 1722, a period of fifty-two years, 
could not have entitled the Great Tree, so called, 
to the conspicuous representation it has on Bon- 
ner's map. 

The history of other aged elms might perhaps aid 



16 

us in elucidating the point in question. There is one 
which has attracted notice, whose age may be deter- 
mined with apparent certainty: it is the Aspinwall 
elm in Brookline, near the former Smallpox Hospi- 
tal. This was planted in 1656, and must, of course, 
have been three or four years old at the time of its 
transplantation, so that at the present time it is at 
least two hundred years old. Its appearance leads 
us to believe it may live at least a hundred years 
more ; * and this we think a fair age to assign to the 
American elm situated in favorable circumstances, so 
far as we are acquainted with its history. Whence 
we conclude there is nothing improbable in the belief 
that the Elm on Boston Common is more than two 
hundred years old. 

But, as it was certainly the Great Tree in 1729 
and 1722, we may indulge the belief, that it sprang 
up previous to the settlement of Boston ; that it cast 
its protecting shade over the heads of our earliest 
American ancestors ; and that even the native inhabi- 

* Since writing the above passage, I have examined this tree, and find 
that its annual foliage has been almost wholly devoured by the canker-worm, 
in common with many other trees in the low land of Brookline. It appears 
at this time like a frightful skeleton ; and there is a question whether it will 
ever recover from the shock it has received. In its death, we shall have to 
deplore the loss of one of the finest natural ornaments of this part of the 
country. 



17 

tant of the soil enjoyed the protection of its wide- 
spreading branches. 

This tree, therefore, we must venerate as a visible 
relic of the Indian Shawmut ; for all its other na- 
tive trees and groves have been long since prostrated ; 
the frail and transient memorials of the Aborigines 
have vanished; even the hills of Trimountain can- 
not be distinguished; and this native noble elm 
remains to present a substantial association of the 
existing with the former ages of Boston. 

The present active and intelligent Mayor of our 
city, Dr. J. V. C. Smith, has erected a handsome iron 
fence as a permanent protection to this valuable relic 
of the early days of the city, with the following 
inscription, viz. : — 

"THE OLD ELM. 

" This tree has been stajstding here for an unknown period. It is 
believed to have existed before the settlement of boston, 

BEING FULL GROWN IN 1722. EXHIBITED MARKS OF 

OLD AGE IN 1792, AND WAS NEARLY DESTROYED 

BY A STORM IN 1832. PROTECTED 

BY AN IRON ENCI,OSirRE 

IN 1854. 

"J. V. C. SMITH, IWapor." 
3 



19 



NOTES 



A POETIC imagination might present striking pictures of the 
various scenes which have occurred in the vicinity of this 
tree, from the period when it was surrounded by the native 
sons of the soil to that which was exhibited when the Com- 
mon shone with the brilliant armor of British troops in 1768 
and 1775. Among the multitude of interesting occurrences 
which have distinguished the spot where it stands, one or 
two may be mentioned. 

The earliest of these, drawn from " The History of 
Boston, by Samuel G. Drake, Esq.," is in the following 
language : — " 1676, July 27. Another of the Nipmuck 
Sachems, called ' Sagamore John,' influenced about one 
hundred and sixty Indians to surrender at Boston. One 
among them, old Matoonas, he brought in by force, being 
'bound with cords.' He was immediately condemned to 
death ; for he was not only the father of him who was hung 
in Boston several years before, but he was charged with 
being the first to commit murder in Massachusetts Colony 
in this war. His betrayer, 'Sagamore John,' was desirous 
that he and his men might be the executioners ; wherefore 
Matoonas was carried out into the Common, and being tied 
to a tree, they then shot him to death." 

There is a curious history of a fatal duel, of which the 
ground near this Tree was the seat, on July 3d, 1728. Two 
young gentlemen of the most distinguished- families in the 



20 



town were supposed to have disputed for the possession of a 
young lady, whose name is now buried in forgetfulness. 
The principal actors in this affair were Mr. Benjamin Wood- 
bridge, a descendant of the family whose name stands first 
among the graduates of Harvard College ; the other was Mr. 
Henry Phillips, of a family not less distinguished ; both of 
them were about twenty years old. The combat took place 
in the evening. The parties contended with rapiers ; and 
Woodbridge, being thrust through the body, lived but a 
short time. His antagonist fled, and took refuge in a Brit- 
ish ship of war in the harbor, which safely transported him 
to the English shores ; where, however, he could not escape 
from his own recollections, and died soon after, a victim to 
despair. The monument of Benjamin Woodbridge is still 
to be seen in the Granary Burying-ground at a short dis- 
tance from the gate on the south side. The story is told in 
a very interesting way by the distinguished author, " The 
Sexton of the Old School," who is also well known by 
the signature of Sigma, in the " Boston Evening Transcript " 
for April 25, 1851. A collection of the valuable researches 
of this author into a distinct volume would be an interesting 
and important acquisition. 



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